In its New Year’s Day report, First Due Weather from the Compound, the Monroe-based, hyperlocal Facebook page, announced 82.10 inches of rain fell on the area, almost 50 percent more than the average, annual rainfall amount of 44 inches. As always, FDW reminds followers: “Keep watching.”

If you thought the greater Monroe area received a lot of rain in 2018, you’d be right.In its New Year’s Day report, First Due Weather from the Compound, the Monroe-based, hyperlocal Facebook page, announced 82.10 inches of rain fell on the area, almost 50 percent more than the average, annual rainfall amount of 44 inches.That certainly made homeowners happy because their lawns looked greener than ever. Kids who liked jumping in rain puddles kept their mothers busy with wet, dirty clothing, but any car wash income they looked to earn was probably kept to a minimum. Even December was a rainy month, with 6.53 inches falling as opposed to the typical three inches, noted FDW, which has close to 6,050 people regularly following its forecasts.Keep the water in perspective, though. On average, one inch of rain equates to about 13 inches of snow. If all that rain were snow, there would have been 1,067.30 inches of snow on the ground over the year. Only the highest elevations of mountains in Japan average just half that amount due to bitterly cold Siberian winds. Of course, receiving that much snow is totally impossible. But what is possible is a snowy season for the Monroe area.And, the snow season already started. The first significant snowfall amount happened on Nov. 15 (remember, ugh, that schools were closed that day, too), versus Dec. 6 of the prior year, FDW wrote. This season’s snow totals are already at 14.5 inches, as the area picked up an additional 2.5 inches of snow in December from three measurable events. Two other minimal events left a coating of snow.For the 2017-18 winter season, snow totals were 94.50 inches with 53.5 inches received during March. The average annual seasonal snowfall is about 48 inches, according to FDW. “As you can see, our area did over achieve this past year in both snow and overall liquid precipitation totals,” FDW wrote on its Facebook page, “and it appears in about 15 days with the Modoki El Niño, it is likely to persist for snow total accumulations as colder than average weather and above average snowfall is anticipated for at least six to eight weeks into the future.”And, as always, FDW reminds followers: “Keep watching.”- Nancy Kriz